- A company that really means it with work-life balance- Great teams, kind people, leadership that is engaged, compassionate, accessible, and fun- Commitment to avoiding “crunch” and focusing on long term sustainability- Impressive talent, high ambitions- A great game under their belt- Company on exciting growth trajectory- Active efforts to improve what pain points do exist- Strong benefits

Comp + benefits lagging behind competitors.Management is making changes, but slowly and changes are small and insignificant, and are often constrained by NCSoft (parent company).High technical debt often impedes productivity and studio often lacks resources to address it.

Advice to Management

This is a tough one... The studio needs to bring on more strong new talent, but that's going to be tough without spending the kind of money the studio doesn't have and NCSoft (parent company) doesn't seem particularly excited to provide.

The culture here is amazing. Great work life balance.Able to take creative liberties.No Egos, people are kind and friendly but tend to keep to themselves. ArenaNet really takes care of there employees.Best Leads I have ever had.

Cons

Their software and parts of their workflow is outdated.Pay can be better.

Advice to Management

Keep being the kind and generous company that you are. I'm sure everything else will come in due time

Anet was an amazing time in my career. I had long been a fan of the Developer, and jumped at the chance to work with them. There are some incredibly smart and talented people working there, and I am proud of the work we did as a team on Guild Wars 2.

Cons

Big studio with hundreds of people working. It can be hard forming bonds with people.

Free snacks and soda and company giveaways; location is good; benefits are good compared to my girlfriends company but need better 401k match; food truck is nice to have

Cons

Be prepared for zero profit sharing payout next 3 years; losing directors to Amazon because pay sucks HR is not proactive. No idea what career development means. Mass exodus soon if there is no backup plan. Should not spend so much money on a holiday party and start giving to employees not everyone likes to go to parties.

Advice to Management

Look at your pay practices not competitive people do leave for compensation. Bad management practices too so start looking at decisions being made carefully

They really care about their employees. They truly want you to love working there and be happy. All roles are very stable(AFAIK there's never been any layoffs in 10+ years). Culture is friendly and supportive.

Cons

Compensation is mediocre, especially for designers and artists. Benefits are excellent, but salaries leave much to be desired.

Company seems, in some ways, stagnant. Financially they're stable, but the chance to work on exciting new stuff is limited.

Advice to Management

The best work we've put out has come from driven individuals trying to surpass expectations. Focus more on cultivating a work environment which encourages people to try new things, and make sure they have access to the resources to let them do that. Frequently stuff is too compartmentalized with top-down directives limiting what people can attempt.